Bravo Bravia

I was having a discussion over Xbox live with a couple of friends of mine. Two of us have the same 40″ Sony Bravia, the other has a standard widescreen CRT.
It’s very difficult trying to put across just how good the picture quality is with a HDTV (especially when it is being fed HD content), I find the only thing I can say is that the colours are just so much better. An example I use to show is a clip of an IMAX film called Coral Reef Adventure. You can download the clip here in 720p (or 1080p if your TV is compatible) along with some other good samples.

I found a site, courtesy of Digg.com which has some great comparisons between 480p and 720p – 480 being the resolution in which standard SD (Standard Definition) film is recorded and broadcast and 720 being the lowest resolution to qualify as HD film. (The p stands for progressive scan, stick it in google or wiki for the full details :P)

The sites creator has taken identical screen grabs of both sources from Apple.com movie trailers and has set them up as roll overs on the page. The page takes quite some time to download as the images are big but it’s worth it.

The first image shown is the 480p or SD grab, when you mouse over it the 720p or HD grab is shown. Note: The first time you roll over, it has to download the 720p image so give it some time.
Once it is done, you can clearly see the difference in quality. Notice the clarity of the skin in the Fantastic Four grab, the sharpness of the grab from The Simpsons and the others.

I was pretty sceptical of the difference before I got my panel but as soon as I put the HD trailers on that I’d downloaded over Xbox Live, I was smitten. I guess HD really is one of those things you have to see to believe.